


Sworn Beyond Blood

by Not From Stars (Shadowcat)



Category: Hand of Isis - Jo Graham
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-24
Updated: 2011-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-27 23:52:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/301458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowcat/pseuds/Not%20From%20Stars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iras once made a vow to the Goddess Isis, and it was never something that she would have changed. She would always hold to the promise she made.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sworn Beyond Blood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mari4212](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mari4212/gifts).



> This was one of my favorite books and I loved the characters. When I saw that there was a request for an Iras story, this was what started forming in my mind.

Above all, she served Isis.

Isis was her Goddess, the one who gave them all life. It was understood that her first loyalty would be to the Goddess who made everything possible.

However, her sister, the Queen, was almost as highly revered and served. Along with Charmian, she had served Cleopatra in some way or another since the three of them were young children. When she looked back on those days in the palace garden and harem, she realized that even before their father had given her and Charmian to Cleopatra as her women, she had served her in some way. She had chosen her loyalties before she was even old enough to realize that was what she was doing.

When they were sent into exile in Bubastis, Iras never thought of being anywhere but with Cleopatra and Charmian. She missed her home, but thought that as long as she had her sisters, then all would be well. At the young age they were, she supposed it was normal for her family to be her whole world. After all, they were all daughters of the Pharaoh Auletes in some way.

It was the ritual they did to Isis that year that made her realize that her life was never going to be the same as other girls. It was that night that she knew she would always be bound to the destiny of Cleopatra.

They say that Isis has many faces and the face that Iras saw that night was the face of the Lady of Amenti. A face that sought knowledge and saw hardship, but managed to endure no matter what she had come up against. Without being told in words, she knew that she was being shown what Cleopatra would need from her for the rest of their lives. She would need to learn so many things and she would need to be careful and in control. She would need to put the life of Cleopatra before any wish she had for herself.

Iras might have held out against this idea. She might have had her own talk with Isis in the temples of Bubastis after that night. She wanted to tell the gracious Lady that she didn’t know how she could do what was expected of her. She might have asked her not to expect so much from her because she didn’t know if she could be what Cleopatra needed her to be.

She might have done any of this but for what happened not long after she and her sisters spoke with Isis and agreed to become her hands and take care of The Black Land.

She almost lost Charmian.

Younger than her by only a few months, she had never been without the presence of her sister in some way. Even when they were ill, there had never been a time that she was seriously in danger of being separated from her permanently. They had learned to crawl and then to walk together. They had been given to their sister, Cleopatra, as her handmaidens together.

The sharp edge of an assassin’s knife had almost robbed her of her sister forever.

Later, all she would be able to remember about that moment was her confusion about why Charmian had just told a stranger that she was Cleopatra. She remembered wondering what kind of game her sister was playing and why she seemed to have suddenly stepped closer to the stranger and didn’t look at her or Cleopatra.

Most of the witnesses would say that the attack happened too fast to be believed, but for Iras, everything seemed to have slowed down.

She saw the flash of the knife and saw the spray of blood – oh Goddess, there was so much of Charmian’s blood! – that stained the fabric of the stall. She started to move to her sister when she felt something wet on her face and heard a horrible screaming.

In the midst of all of this, she saw her sister falling to the ground and she grabbed Cleopatra, throwing her down next to Charmian; then she covered them both with her body. All she could think of was that she had to shield her sisters from the attack. She had to keep both of them from getting hurt any further.

Everything went silent around her and for a moment, she was terrified that she had lost everything she held close to her heart. No, it was just that the Goddess was trying to communicate with her, to tell her what needed to be done next. Once she saw that the melon farmer and Apollodorus had apprehended the man, she stood up and helped Cleopatra to her feet. Then both of them turned their attention to Charmian.

Iras shouted for a litter, thinking that no one was moving fast enough. Couldn’t they see that her sister was dying? Why were they taking so long?

Once they got Charmian in the litter, Iras tried to convince Cleopatra to get in, too, but her other sister wouldn’t do so. She pointed out that the bearers could move faster with her running beside them. If she got in, then the litter would be heavier and they would take longer to get their sister to the temple and to the help she needed.

Once they were back safely in the temple grounds, Iras went to the same room the three of them had spoken with the Goddess before. She dropped to her knees, the frightened tears pouring unchecked down her face.

“Please, Lady. Please do not take my sister. Please do not let Charmian die. I need her,” she whispered. “ _We_ need her. She is sworn to you just like I am and I do not know how to do this without her. If you must have the life’s blood of one of us to secure the Black Land, then take mine. Better that I should give my life in her place than try to serve Cleopatra and your will with only half of myself.” She swallowed, bowing her head. “The three of us need to stay together, and if you spare her, then I will do whatever you require of me.”

She was quiet for a long moment, thinking only of her fear that she was losing her sister. Then, she felt a hand on her hair and she looked up into the face of Isis, the Lady of Amenti.

“You are my child and my devotee,” the Goddess said, pulling her to her feet gently. “You will not lose your sister, today. She paid the blood price that was required, but the price I ask of you may be that much harder.”

“Anything,” Iras swore with all of the passion of a thirteen year old. “I swear with all of my heart that I will do what you ask.”

Isis gave her a small smile as she placed a hand against her cheek. “Then you must promise that you will always put the needs of the Black Land and the service to your queen before anything else. Egypt must come before love, before freedom, before anything else. This is the price that you need to pay to the Gods if your sister is to live to serve like she must. The three of you are the daughters of the land and you are my Hands.”

“Lady, I am yours,” Iras swore, bowing her head.

There was never a time in her life that she ever regretted making that vow.


End file.
